Bo Burnham's Inside album deemed ineligible for Best Comedy Album Grammy
Instead the album will compete in the Best Compilation Soundtrack For Visual Media category
Musical comedian Bo Burnham’s hit comedy special Inside has ruled stand-up this year, as has the subsequent album version, which features tracks such as “All Eyes On Me,” “That Funny Feeling,” and “Welcome To The Internet.” However, the album, Inside (The Songs), will not be considered for Best Comedy Album at next year’s Grammys ceremony.
This the second puzzling decision made by the genre committee publicized this week, following the outcry over Kacey Musgraves’ star-crossed being bumped from the country album category.
Per Billboard, the Recording Academy ruled the accompanying album does not meet the criteria for the comedy album category for unspecified reasons. Burnham’s album landed at No. 1 on the comedy chart and has remained in that top spot for its 18 weeks of release.
While the disqualification possibly stems from the fact that the album is made from material for a television special, this would be a diversion from recent nominees and winners. Last year’s comedy album Grammy went to Tiffany Haddish’s Black Mitzvah, which was also the soundtrack to a Netflix special, as were other contenders Jerry Seinfeld’s 23 Hours To Kill and Bill Bush’s Paper Tiger.
Inside (The Songs) will instead fall into the category for Best Compilation Soundtrack For Visual Media, which is typically reserved for original music composed for television shows, films, and video games. Recent winners for this category include the soundtracks for Jojo Rabbit and A Star Is Born.
Another possible reason is to separate the lyrical comedy from the spoken word, but this also does not track with the Recording Academy’s nomination history. In 2015, “Weird Al” Yankovic’s Mandatory Fun won Best Comedy Album. Years earlier, Flight of the Conchords’ music EP The Distant Future won in 2007.
Burnham recently won three Emmys for the comedy special, including Outstanding Writing For A Variety Special, Outstanding Music Direction and Outstanding Directing For A Variety Special.
Republic has submitted the song “All Eyes on You” for best song written for visual media (in correspondence with the album’s category), record of the year, song of the year, and best pop solo performance. The full album will still be considered for the best music film category and album of the year.
The official nominations for the 2022 Grammys will be announced on November 23.